PRESIDENT JOHNSON LAUNCHED THE AMERICAN "WAR ON POVERTY" FIFTY YEARS AGO TODAY..............

Forty years ago tonight in his first, 'State Of The Union' Address, less than seven weeks after the Assassination of President Kennedy, President Lyndon Baines Johnson declared an unconditional War On Poverty in America.  That effort that includes some seventy seven Federal programs to lift the poor up economically and educationally,  is being commemorated in a ceremony at the United States Capitol in Washington, being held by the Congressional Black Caucus, at which President Johnson's daughter, Linda Johnson Robb, the wife of former Virginia Governor and U.SS. Semator Chuck Robb, will be in attendance in this remembrance of her father's domestic legacy.  As Democrats celebrate the accomplishments a half century into this effort to eliminate poverty in the United States and are zeroing in on UnEmployment Insurance Benefits Extension, and Income InEquality as current facets of impoverishment needing to be addressed; Republicans are largely critical of its affect, declaring it a failure with 46 million Americans still now in poverty, and calling for dismantling the War On Poverty transferring it from the Federal Government back to the States.  Among their marking of this day will be a Speech by Florida U.S. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, who will speak from the Lyndon B. Johnson Room, at the Capitol  Building.  Senator Rubio is expected to propose his own Plan to replace the Johnson Program.  Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, is also scheduled to appear on the NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams tonight, in an interview detailing his views and recommendations, as alternatives to the 50 year War On Poverty.  Succeeding or Failing, one thing is certain - the political debate will continue as it has the pasr half century as to what the best way to eradicate the reality of Poverty in America most effectively is tor the Poor among us..............Fr.  Troy David